The Center of the World: Sacred Stones on Ancient Coins

By Michael T. Shutterly for CoinWeek …..
 

“Sacred stones” have been venerated, even worshipped, for thousands of years. Sometimes known as “baetyls” or “betyls” (from the Semitic bet el, meaning “House of God”), the stones were believed to house or give access to a god and sometimes even believed to be gods. Some of these stones originated as meteorites, and the people who found them believed that the stones were sent by some heavenly god or other. Sacred stones have often appeared on coins, which can make for an interesting collection.

One of the Earliest Coins Displaying a Sacred Stone

Kaunos was a major port city and naval station in Caria, located on the southwest coast of modern-day Türkiye. Due to silting over the millennia, the site of Kaunos is now about five miles away from the sea.

This silver stater was struck circa 450-430 BCE in Kaunos when the city was a member of the Delian League. The obverse presents the winged goddess Iris while the reverse depicts a conical sacred stone flanked by grape bunches. The letter “delta” at the top of the reverse is a “K” in the Carian alphabet, identifying Kaunos as the mint city. This coin sold for $6,000 at a January 2020 auction.

The Sacred Stone of Emesa

One of the most famous sacred stones was the Stone of Emesa, in Syria. This was a large, black conical stone sacred to the god Ilāh ha-Gabal (“God of the Mountain”), known to the Romans as El Gabal or Elagabalus.

The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (reigned 198-217 CE), better known as Caracalla, struck this bronze coin sometime in 216 or early 217. He was the grandson of Julius Bassianus, who served as the hereditary High Priest of El Gabal from about 187 until 217. The obverse portrays Caracalla and gives his name and title in Greek, while the reverse depicts a temple containing the Stone of Emesa, with an eagle standing on the face of the stone. This coin is one of the finest of its type and sold for a fixed price of $1,250.

Julius Bassianus was succeeded as High Priest by his 13-year-old great-grandson (and Caracalla’s cousin), Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, known today as Elagabalus. Shortly after Caracalla’s murder at the hands of his Praetorian Prefect Macrinus, Elagabalus’ mother and grandmother caused the legions in the East to proclaim Elagabalus as Emperor. Elagabalus’ claim to the throne was based in part upon a rumor (one that Elagabalus’ mother declared to be true) that Elagabalus was the son of Caracalla, whom the soldiers had loved. After Macrinus lost a few battles (and his life) to armies led by Elagabalus’ mother and grandmother, the Roman Senate accepted Elagabalus as ruler.

Elagabalus struck this denarius in Antioch in 219-220 to commemorate the arrival of the Stone of Emesa in Rome. The obverse portrays Elagabalus while the reverse presents an imperial eagle standing on a thunderbolt in front of the Stone. This is the finest known example of an extremely rare coin; it sold for $37,500 in an auction in January 2018.

The Omphalos of Apollo

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi contained a sacred stone that marked the exact center of the earth: this was the Omphalos (“navel”) of the world. The archaeological site of the Temple of Apollo still displays a stone that tourists are told is the original Omphalos, but alas, the stone on display is a later Roman copy.

This tetradrachm was struck by the Seleukid King of Syria, Antiochos I Soter (reigned 281-261 BCE). The obverse portrays Antiochos, while the reverse presents Apollo seated in what must be a rather uncomfortable position on the Omphalos. This coin sold for $20,000 in an auction in January 2015.

The Parthian Omphalos

Rome’s great eastern rival, the Parthian Empire, was not Greek but the Parthians did adopt many aspects of Greek culture, including belief in the Omphalos.

Mithridates I of Parthia (reigned circa 171-132 BCE) struck this silver drachm in Hakatompyos. The obverse portrays the King while the reverse depicts Arsakes I, the founder of the Parthian Empire, sitting on the Omphalos. This rare coin sold for a fixed price of $3,500.

The Sacred Stone of Astarte

The Stone of Emesa was not the only sacred stone in which Caracalla took an interest: the goddess Astarte had her stone as well. Astarte was a Phoenician goddess of war and sexual love; these happened to be two of Caracalla’s three favorite pastimes (the third was murder).

Caracalla struck this silver tetradrachm circa 215-217. The obverse portrays Caracalla and gives his name and titles in Greek, while the reverse depicts the Carriage of Astarte between the legs of an eagle; the stone of Astarte rests inside the carriage. This coin sold for $450 at a January 2019 auction.

The Ambrosial Rocks

According to myth, the two Ambrosial Rocks floated in the Mediterranean Sea until the god Melqart arranged for them to settle in the waters about half a mile off the coast of what is now Lebanon. These sacred stones formed the foundation of the great city of Tyre.

The Roman Emperor Gallienus (reigned 253-263) struck this bronze coin in Tyre. The obverse portrays Gallienus while the reverse depicts an olive tree between the Ambrosial Rocks, with the Hound of Herakles and a murex shell (the source of an expensive dye that made Tyre immensely wealthy) at the bottom. This coin sold for $600 at an auction in May 2016.

The Sacred Stone of Paphian Aphrodite

The Greek goddess Aphrodite was derived largely from Astarte. There were several legends concerning Aphrodite’s origin, one of which is that she arose from sea foam that washed up on the island of Cyprus. The town of Paphos (modern Kouklia) on the southwest coast of Cyprus became the most important center for the cult of Aphrodite. The museum in Kouklia holds what purports to be the original sacred stone for Aphrodite’s temple. Most of the ancient sacred stones are believed to have been meteorites, but the sacred stone in Kouklia is andesite, a rock of volcanic origin. Perhaps this stone was a gift from Aphrodite’s husband, Hephaistos, the blacksmith of the Olympian gods, whose workshop lay beneath the Sicilian volcano Mt. Etna.

Emperor Tiberius (reigned 14-37 CE) struck this bronze coin on Cyprus, probably in Paphos itself, in 22 or 23 in honor of his son Drusus. The obverse portrays Drusus while the reverse depicts Zeus standing in front of a temple that holds the sacred stone of Paphian Aphrodite. The coin sold for $380 at an auction in September 2016.

The Sacred Stone of Aphrodite in Byblos

The Phoenician city of Byblos was an important city in the ancient trade in papyrus, which was used as the paper for Greek and Roman books. The word “Bible” comes from “Byblos” by way of the Greek “tà biblía,” meaning “the books”. Ancient Byblos was the site of important temples of Aphrodite and of Adonis, one of Aphrodite’s boyfriends.

Macrinus (mentioned above, reigned 217-218) minted this bronze coin in Byblos. The obverse portrays Macrinus, while the reverse displays a conical sacred stone of Aphrodite surrounded by an ornate fence in a colonnaded court with a temple to the left. This coin sold for $3,250 at a January 2006 auction.

The Sacred Stone of Zeus Kasios

The mountain Jebel al-ʾAqra is in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border. It is subject to extremely powerful thunderstorms, and the ancient Hurrians and Hittites believed it to be the home of their respective storm gods. The Greeks called the mountain Kasios and dedicated a major temple to the god Zeus Kasios in nearby Seleukeia Pierias.

The Roman Emperor Trajan (reigned 98-117) minted this bronze coin sometime after 114. The obverse portrays Trajan, while the reverse depicts the sacred stone of Zeus Kasios within a temple, above which stands an eagle. The coin sold for a fixed price of $245.

The Sacred Stone of Tyche

The “Red Rose City” of Petra was the capital city of the Nabataeans. More recently, it has become famous as the location of the Holy Grail in the motion picture Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), but 2,000 years ago it was the site of an important temple of Tyche, the goddess of good fortune.

Caracalla struck this bronze coin sometime after the death of his father, Emperor Septimius Severus, in 211. The obverse portrays Caracalla, while the reverse shows the statue of Tyche of Petra holding her sacred stone in her outstretched right hand.

A Sacred Stone in a Sacred Mountain

Mt. Argaios, now known as Erciyes Dagi, is the tallest mountain in Cappadocia, the heartland of what is now Türkiye. The Hittites considered it to be a holy mountain over 3,300 years ago. The Greek philosopher and rhetorician Maximus of Tyre wrote in the second century CE that the people of Cappadocia considered the mountain itself to be a god.

This silver didrachm was struck circa 112-117 in Caesarea-Eusebia, once the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia and now the Turkish city Kayseri (the pronunciation of which is similar to the Latin pronunciation of “Caesarea” except for the final vowel). The obverse depicts the Emperor Trajan, while the reverse depicts Mt. Argaios with a grotto at its base containing a sacred stone. A second grotto, lined with a series of stones, appears at the top of the mountain. This coin sold for $280 at an auction in January 2103.

Many Sacred Stones on Coins to Choose From

Elagabalus’ devotion to the sacred stone of El-Gabal did not stop him from honoring other sacred stones.

This bronze coin was struck at Bostra, a city now known as Bosra and located in southwestern Syria. Bosra was the first city of the Nabataeans and was conquered along with the rest of Nabataea during the reign of Trajan. The obverse portrays Elagabalus, while the reverse depicts an altar on which there are three piles of sacred stones. The coin sold for $225 at an auction in May 2020.

Collecting Coins Displaying Sacred Stones

There is not a great deal of literature devoted to these coins as such; most serious studies of sacred stones focus on the stones themselves and their related cults. An added complication is that “sacred stones” often feature in works of fantasy or mystical healing, and you can find yourself deep in a research rabbit hole. Fortunately, although some sacred stone coins are quite expensive, you can obtain many of them for very modest prices, and they are easily located in the market.

* * *

References

British Museum. Roman Provincial Coins, Vol. 1. London (1992).

Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 16.

Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, München Staatlische Münzsammlung. Berlin (1968 – Present).

Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Turkey 1: The Muharrem Kayhan Collection. Istanbul (2002).

Bellinger, A.R. Troy, The Coins. Princeton (1961).

Houghton, A. and C. Lorber. Seleucid Coins: A Comprehensive Catalog. Lancaster (2002).

Mattingly, H., et al. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV. London (1984).

Price, M.J. & Trell, B. Coins and Their Cities. London (1977).

Rouvier, J. “Numismatics of the Cities of Phoenicia”, Journal International d’Archéologie Numismatique. Athens (1900-1904).

Sellwood, D. An Introduction to the Coinage of Parthia. London (1980).

Spijkerman, A. The Coins of the Decapolis and Provincia Arabia. Jerusalem (1978).

Sydenham, E. The Coinage of Caesarea in Cappadocia. London (1933; 1977 reprint with supplement).

Images of coins are all courtesy and copyright of Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) LLC – www.cngcoins.com.

* * *

The post The Center of the World: Sacred Stones on Ancient Coins appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.